We Need a Plan B for the Rideau Canal Skateway

And it involves turning Queen Elizabeth Driveway into a Car-Free Urban Park

Is this becoming a thing of the past?

Is 30 cm achievable?

With apologies for interrupting your holiday cheer …

What if last year’s experience with the Rideau Canal Skateway was not an anomaly, but rather the first signs of a new normal?

The Skateway never opened in 2022-23 — for the first time in its 53-year history. Mild temperatures meant that the Canal could not accumulate the 30 cm of ice required for safe operations.

30 cm of ice requires “10 to 14 consecutive days of temperatures between -10°C and -20°C”. With 2023 the hottest year on record, and with the return of El Niño, it’s unlikely that Ottawa will see those extended cold spells anytime in the foreseeable future.

Are we seeing the beginning of the end of the Rideau Canal Skateway? Or, at best, skating seasons that only last for a handful of days?

Plan B for the Canal Skateway

Some people may not want to hear it, but the climate in Ottawa is changing. The Rideau Canal Skateway is a victim of climate change.

We can respond by putting our heads in the sand, and hoping that it all goes away. Or we can recognize that, for the Canal Skateway to survive, we are going to need a Plan B.

If we want a multi-kilometre Skateway, I can’t see a lot of options other than to turn the Queen Elizabeth Driveway into a skating rink. It could run from the National Arts Centre to Pretoria Ave, and/or Pretoria Ave to Preston St.

One advantage of putting the skateway on QED is that we could have a much longer season. We could open it with a few centimetres of ice, rather than wait for the foot of ice that we currently require.

And if we were going to repurpose the roadway as a winter skating track, shouldn’t we just recognize that QED has far more value to the nation’s capital as a year-round car-free urban park, than as another couple of kilometres in Ottawa’s 6,000+ km road network?

Could this be the future home of the Rideau Canal Skateway?

What do you think?

Tell us your thoughts on what we should do with the QED.

Have a restful holiday season

I will be taking a few weeks break from this Substack, but back in early 2024.

I hope you have a restful break. And are ready to turn 2024 into the year that we start to seriously fight for, and win, a better Ottawa.

That’s what I’ll be doing in the new year. I look forward to telling you all about it through this Substack.

One final request for 2023

If you are enjoying this Substack, I have one request. Could you please tell a friend about it. Let’s grow a network of people who care about building a better Ottawa. That starts with each of us reaching out to other like-minded individuals and bringing them into the discussion.

Thanks, Neil